I'm finished swatching...

I'm finished swatching 8/12 of my helmers, or 48/72 of my helmer drawers. Or I'm just 2/3 of the way finished, if you prefer that. 😂

I'm taking the rest of the week off. I do have 2 small paint shakers, but I've been hand-shaking each bottle after the machines as well. Since I've been working on this basically every day since I started (in August? September?) my hands and wrists are hurting and I don't want to damage myself. And I'm tired. And since I'm about to be away from home for a couple of weeks I want to spend my time with Shaun.

I'm so excited to be closing in on a "maintenance phase" for this project. I'm having a great time playing with my polish, but it's gonna feel so good to my brain to have it all organized. Plus, it'll be so much easier to plan out nail art and jewelry. 😊

As of last night...

As of last night I finished swatching half of my polish drawers. I don't know if it's *quite* half of my collection, but it's probably close! 😁

I did these over this past weekend...

I did these over this past weekend and they aren't very decorated, but I like how the color-flips came out. UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't write down which chrome powders I used to get these colors so I have no idea how to get exactly these results again. I'm especially fond of the green and pink ones, so that sucks.

Maybe after I finish swatching my polish I can make a "cheat sheet" with my gels, the silver magnetic polish, and various chrome powders to get an idea of how they'll look all together. That sounds... difficult. And like I'd waste up a lot of gel. 😬 Maybe I'd better start writing my good combos down as I go.

As of this morning...

For math purposes:  I started swatching on August 27th. It's taken me 7 weeks to do 1/3 of my collection. I don't think I'll be finished by December, especially since I'll be away for 2 weeks. But that's ok. I think I'll have the bulk of my colors done and will be down to toppers, magnetics, thermals, gels, etc.

I did not plan / stage this, but...

I did not plan / stage this, but when I saw it I had to get a photo. 😂😂😂

If I'm not super social or responsive...

First 50 done!

First 50 done! Now <100 more days of this and I'll be done. 😂😂😂

It was actually really fun once I got started and got over my nerves. I miss my polishes and I love them. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍 They are so beautiful and bring me joy.

So all of these were in one of my "red" drawers. As you can (most likely) see, they are not all what is usually considered to be red. So when I do the big sort with my friend, we are sorting them by the color that the swatch ring says. That makes a lot more sense to me for ease of finding what I'm looking for.

My helper in all things: Scar.

My helper in all things:  Scar. Even when he's not thrilled with what I'm doing. 😂😂😂

Shaun ordered...

Shaun ordered 5000 swatch sticks for me and I printed 4500-ish labels last night... Meaning that I can start swatching my nail polish collection.

I am thinking I'll do 3 coats of polish on each stick + topcoat. It's the way I'd normally wear it.

I don't know why, but it feels like a big deal and I'm nervous to get started. It's definitely a large undertaking, but I have until the end of the year to do it before a friend comes to help me re-organize the whole collection by color. (We both enjoy that kind of task. 😂) I think I have time, so that's not the reason for the feelings.

I guess I'm just being weird. Nothing new there. 😜

Interesting to no one but myself, but I'm sharing anyway:

Interesting to no one but myself, but I'm sharing anyway:

I have completed the data-gathering phase of building my nail polish database.  I have swatches, color descriptions, collection names, release dates, etc., for the 4000+ nail polishes I have.  Any information I'm missing at this point is because it's not easily or readily found on the internet.  Next comes deciding how I'm going to configure all of this into my database.  I already have several test tables made and I like how that is going, so that's a good start.  But I've put that on hold for the moment because...

I've been focusing my efforts on gathering the data for my website.  It's basically going to be a blog-style site that hosts my photos and posts dating back to 2005.  Much of it will be familiar content because I'm pulling posts from Facebook to fill it in, but after it's up and running it will also contain exclusive content.  I have probably another solid month of work to get that to a maintenance phase, which I am very excited about.  After MySpace dumped so much of my content without warning back in the day I trust no social media to last.  I want ownership of my photos and stories and to know that they are safe.

My website will probably be of interest to no one but me, but I write primarily because it makes me happy.  If anyone is inspired to help animals or feels less alone in their struggles with depression or whatever, then that is a side effect I am happy to have.  Also, to be completely honest I fear the possibility of getting Alzheimer's and don't want to forget my life.  I find it very comforting to have a chronicle of the things I've done and the way I felt at the time.

Anyway, both of these projects are things that I have either been working at slowly but surely over the years or have wanted to do.  I feel like I'm finally at a place in life where I can put energy and focus into my personal projects and I am grateful for that.  It is such a relief to not have it hanging over my head, neglected and begging for attention.

The only major downside at this moment is that I spend so much time sitting in front of a computer.  I work on a computer and then get off work and get back on one.  Hyperfocus can be super productive, but it's not the best for my physical health.  But I feel like once I'm to a maintenance phase on both projects I will be able to shift more focus onto myself.  I've been eating healthy for the most part, but not exercising or moving around like I should.  I'm definitely going to work on that.  Not only do I miss skating, but I feel that I am decently healthy and want to hang onto that for as long as I can.  So, as they say:  Use it or lose it.

I hope you all are having a good weekend.  If you need me I'll be here on this laptop.  😆